One of Bristol’s busiest streets has been chosen for a  new Showcase bus route.

Whiteladies Road has been picked for the upgraded service which promises new buses that run on time.

Bus firm First will provide bus stops that show the actual time  the next bus will arrive.

The A4 Bath Road and the A432 Fishponds Road are also set to be converted into Showcase bus routes as part of a £70-million scheme to improve bus services in the Bristol area.

But there are fears that the new Showcase routes will lead to the loss of on-street parking.

Local businesses in Old Market say they have suffered since parking was limited on the new Showcase 2 bus route, which opened in late 2007.

Last July the  Post reported on a proposal to spend £540,000 to redesign the junction at the top of Blackboy Hill.

Shop owners complained that the change in parking arrangements would harm their businesses by driving away customers who visited the shops by car.

After planning processes and official consultations, work could start later this year and be complete by 2011.

But with the road narrowing at Blackboy Hill, traders have again expressed fears that one lane of parking spaces, if not on both sides of the road, could be sacrificed to make way for new bus lanes.

And they have called on the city council to discuss the proposals with them at the earliest possible opportunity.

The  Post visited shops in Blackboy Hill yesterday to talk to traders about their views on the scheme.

Few of them had even heard of Showcase bus routes, let alone the prospects of having one coming past their shop fronts.

Tammy Niblett,  owner of Global Furniture, has been running her shop for two years and pays around £7,200 a year in business rates.

She said: “I would usually come in to work just before I open up at 9am but I have to be in by 8am just to get a parking space. It’s horrendous and there’s nowhere else to park.

“We’ve not been spoken to by the council at all about this new bus route. I’m not surprised but I’m a bit annoyed because it feels like we are left out of the loop all the time.

“Life’s tough enough for small businesses at the moment so it would be a nightmare for us if people couldn’t park outside any more. It’s not like you can take furniture home with you on a bus.

“It seems like the new city centre is the priority for everything, while smaller areas like this are just left behind.”

Passenger figures on the first two Showcase bus routes – on the A38 from Henbury to Hartcliffe and on the A420 from the city centre to Kingswood – have risen by more than 10 per cent since they were introduced.

At the same time, the number of cars using the routes has dropped by several thousand.

The West of England Partnership, a body which represents the four councils in the former Avon area and which is putting forward a raft of transport improvements, hopes for similar figures on the latest  routes.

Mark Bradshaw, transport executive member for Bristol City Council, said: “Each time we do a corridor we learn something new and I think that on Showcase 2 we learned that street improvement and improving the environment is equally as important as new vehicles.

“Improvements to road junctions are also a key issue. We need to explain the rationale for our proposals, whether it’s introducing traffic signals or changing junctions. These are contentious schemes and not everyone will agree with them but I’m keen to put a much stronger emphasis on why we are doing each scheme.

“Whiteladies Road looks to be the next Showcase bus route that we are going to do and we need to decide on the programme of that relatively soon.

“It’s an interesting one for us because it’s so different from the routes which we have done so far.

“It’s a very busy road and there are a number of safety issues regarding cyclists and pedestrians which we need to look at.

“In some parts of the route there is ample space but in others it is very tight so we need to work out how we can put in a reliable bus corridor while catering for pedestrians and cyclists at the same time.

“There are historic locations which are on the route so we have to think about those as well.

“But it’s very much more than a bus lane. It’s about enhancing the area as well.”